


Night Watch

by Vampiric_Charms



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 19:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampiric_Charms/pseuds/Vampiric_Charms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Amon devastates the arena, Tenzin tries to be the friend and support to Lin that he used to be while she struggles to hold her city together.  One-shot, complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Watch

**Author's Note:**

> This is set a few hours after the end of _And the Winner Is..._ , sometime in the late afternoon the next day. So, before Lin resigns her position of chief but while Tarrlok is moving his pieces against the police force. This does also assume that a handful of people lost their lives in the fight at the arena, though doesn't go into much detail (which is where the rating comes from).
> 
> One day I'll branch out to the other seasons. Maybe.

“Um, sir.”

“What.” Lin didn’t even bother looking up from the scrolls and stacks of papers spread across her desk when one of the messengers from downstairs tentatively poked his head into her office. She barely even registered he was there.

“Master Tenzin is here to see you,” the young man said quietly, his face anxious as he spoke. “Should I…show him in?”

She just waved her hand and made an affirmative-sounding hum in her throat, not having actually heard the question as her eyes skimmed quickly over the new report she had picked up to read. It wasn’t until Tenzin’s deep voice broke her from her concentration that her eyebrows puckered and she raised an angry gaze in his direction.

“Am I bothering you?” Tenzin asked, closing the door gently behind him as he came into her space.

“What does it look like?” Lin snapped in frustration with a resentful gesture over her cluttered desk. “The president wanted a full account of the damage this morning, which I gave him right on time. But that meant I couldn’t go to the families of those we lost until afterward without risking my job. I still haven’t finished notifying everyone, because the coroner hasn’t even been able to find all of our peoples’ bodies from the wreckage around the arena. I haven’t slept or eaten since yesterday. On top of that, have you heard all of the _wonderful_ things Tarrlok has had to say about me the last few hours? So you tell me, Tenzin – are you _bothering_ me?” 

“Lin -”

“Stop right there.” She stood and slammed her hands down on the desktop, observing two small white boxes under his left arm for the first time when he took a slight step backward. “Somehow I have a feeling this is your fault. You and your precious Avatar Korra.” She paused to take stock of her words after they’d left her mouth, sucking in a breath and squeezing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger as she dropped heavily into the chair behind her again. “I apologize for that outburst, I am quite exhausted. What do you want?”

“What I wanted, Lin,” he said softly, coming fully into the room to have a seat in one of the chairs across from her, “was to see how you were feeling.”

Lin snorted, shifting her gaze away from him. “I think I just gave you a pretty good idea of the answer to that question.”

“I’d say so.” 

She noticed as Tenzin shifted slightly, almost reaching across the desk for her hand where it was sitting idly on her inkpen and stopping himself at the last second. She made no movement to or away from him, the acknowledgement of exhaustion seeming to have brought it on full-force and making her limbs heavy. But she looked up at him, meeting his eyes with a weighty stare. Tenzin lowered his head under her gaze, though she wasn’t sure if that was because he was embarrassed or if he chose that moment to reach down to place the boxes at his feet. Typical Airbender.

When he finally spoke, his voice showed just how much he wanted to touch her, even if he wouldn’t. “I’m sorry for everything that happened last night, Lin. And I am especially sorry you lost so many good people.”

“I played right into their hands,” Lin whispered, not really listening to his words as her hard mask crumpled under the burden on her shoulders. “I should have listened to you. This was a ploy all along, and now…now eleven of my officers lost their lives, all because of my stubbornness. Tarrlok _and_ Amon are going to win. My city…”

“ _Our_ city, Lin.” This time, Tenzin did grab her hand. Very briefly, he grasped it in both of his and squeezed her fingers tightly before releasing it back to the desktop. She looked up at him in surprise. “You’re not doing this alone.” 

Not giving her a chance to retort or find her typical facade of resentment again, he picked up the two boxes and slid them across her desk. “Here. I know how you get when things…when you get stressed. I figured you wouldn’t have eaten, so I brought some chocolate-covered fruit and your favorite spice cake from that bakery you – well, _used_ to love. I just assumed you still do.”

Lin took the larger of the two boxes and peered under the lid. A heaping of various dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate filled it nearly to the top. Her lips pulled back in a flat, wry grin with only the slightest hint of warmth. Despite everything, he was still the only person who understood her better than anyone. _How sad_ , she realized to herself, the grin fading as she murmured, “Thanks.”

“Please eat,” Tenzin entreated, his expression worried as he caught her gaze again. He stood suddenly in a sweep of red and gold fabric, ready to make his retreat. “And sleep. I – the city can’t risk losing you, too.”

She nodded once, silently, hearing the unspoken statement clearly and letting it go. “I appreciate the sweets. I haven’t had a spice cake in a long time.”

“Lin -”

“I have work to do,” she interrupted with finality, picking up a scroll and not looking at him again. “Goodbye, Tenzin.”


End file.
